Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 18 Dec 2015 22:29

Of course you do James, and I broadly agree. I just mentioned that a note might be prudent, but it hardly matters. I'm sure folk will be able to draw their own conclusions.

Yes, I thought about asking the licensees for a list of approved licensors: in this case it's actually Transit Film, acting on behalf of FWMS. The simple fact is that I have to draw the line somewhere. That article's taken hundreds of hours to compile; it's nearly 7,000 words long and the quantity in emails I wrote while preparing it would easily double that. What's more, I'm currently preparing a supplemental article for a bunch of stuff I couldn't fit in that one!

The same goes for my bootlegs article: hundreds of hours of work, most of it not on the page, but it's having the desired effect. Of course, in numerous chat forums, deniers who happily buy them kept asking me to contact the pirates and ask them for proof of their licences before accusing them. I repeatedly reminded the pirate supporters that they could ask their fave companies themselves but strangely, no one bothered... Fact is, I've seen lots of actual documentation and been given lots of largely unprintable info (for legal reasons) from the companies and individuals being ripped off - and that's been more than enough to satisfy me and know that my arse is covered legally.

So James, if you'd like to contact Transit it would be great; I'll happily publish the results of anything you uncover. :)

Have just had another thought: I see you removed the note about the second disc of the first Eureka DVD being in B&W. How about adding a note reflecting what my footnotes say, re it actually being partially tinted? You could also ask owners of it to check their discs. That's one particular little mystery I'd love to clear up!
Last edited by Brent_Reid on 19 Dec 2015 09:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 19 Dec 2015 02:03

Sent an email to Transit Film about the Czech DVD legitimacy, an email to DVDBeaver since they claim the Eureka disc is B&W, a message to baggish since he submitted the original specs.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 19 Dec 2015 09:21

Nice one! If Transit get back to you, ask them for a list of all the labels they've licensed to and I'll add it in. Ask them too if they now handle licensing for the 1995 restoration; that's something I haven't yet clarified.

That first Eureka DVD was, in relative terms, a big seller. I'm surprised no one else who owns a copy has weighed in yet. Maybe I'll ask over at Nitrateville...
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 19 Dec 2015 12:14

Ok: I've asked in this thread.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby baggish » 20 Dec 2015 00:00

James-Masaki_Ryan wrote:Sent an email to Transit Film about the Czech DVD legitimacy, an email to DVDBeaver since they claim the Eureka disc is B&W, a message to baggish since he submitted the original specs.

Hi, if I remember correctly, there were already specs for the Eureka in the comparison but they were marked "to be confirmed". The part about early versions of the second disc being in b/w was already there. Anyway, yes, Brent's article is correct in that the tinted version is b/w for the first twelve minutes, and then there is some tinting and some b/w.

In the Sight & Sound review that I mentioned, there are some specs listed, including "Disc 2: original black and white", followed by a text review that doesn't mention tinting/sepia/b&w. I guess it's possible the specs part could have been copied from the DVD sleeve. Enno Patalas in his letter in the next edition was very scathing about the "original black and white" phrase, as the original was not black and white but tinted...

A minor clarification that could be made is:
R1 America - Kino Video: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo music score (by Gérard Hourbette and Thierry Zaboitzeff)
R2 United Kingdom - Eureka (2001 release): Musical Score by Art Zoyd.

Gérard Hourbette and Thierry Zaboitzeff are/were members of Art Zoyd, so presumably the Kino has the same Art Zoyd score as the Eureka.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 24 Dec 2015 10:11

baggish wrote:A minor clarification that could be made is:
R1 America - Kino Video: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo music score (by Gérard Hourbette and Thierry Zaboitzeff)
R2 United Kingdom - Eureka (2001 release): Musical Score by Art Zoyd.

Gérard Hourbette and Thierry Zaboitzeff are/were members of Art Zoyd, so presumably the Kino has the same Art Zoyd score as the Eureka.

Fixed. Also decided to "hide" the Type O Negative and the Film Sans Frontieres releases.
Transit Film replied, but they told me to contact FWMS about that, so I did. Waiting for a reply from FWMS but most likely won't receive one until after the New Year.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 05 Jan 2016 03:02

Official statement from Murnau Stiftung:
the movie was licensed to Levné knihy by us. The license has since then expired but the DVD is an official release.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 10 Jan 2016 12:38

Excellent work, James; have added it to the article. At the moment I've written it as "ACFK/Levné knihy", but are both parts necessary; what does ACFK pertain to? Of all the authorised restored releases, it's certainly an anomaly. I'd still like to actually see a copy or at the very least, some screenshots. I've a sneaking suspicion it won't be transferred as well as the rest, given its vanilla status and shoddy artwork. I wonder why, having paid to license it, they chose the 2.0 soundtrack over the 5.1? They could have easily used both, even on a (presumably) single layer disc.

Did you ask about which other companies FWMS licensed to? Although you can't add any more releases without full details, I'd like to make the article list complete. So far I've got:

    US: Kino
    UK: Eureka/Masters of Cinema
    Germany: Transit Film
    Germany: Süddeutsche Zeitung
    France: mk2
    Spain: Divisa
    Benelux: Living Colour
    Czech Republic: ACFK/Levné knihy
    Australia: Madman

I've had some new info on the Type O Negative DVD: it appears that their record company arranged it over their heads, so though the band didn't agree with the release, royalties were paid. I haven't been able to confirm this yet but it does raise doubt over its illegitimacy. I've amended the wording in the article for now and you may choose to reinstate the listing. I'm trying to contact one of the surviving members of the band, to get it from the horse's mouth. When/if I hear anything definite, I'll let you know.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 17 Jan 2016 13:10

Busy and forgot to ask, but just replied to FWMS about a list of international licensors. Any word from Type O Negative?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 19 Jan 2016 15:00

Hi James,

I had a lead but it's gone cold. I'll keep trying but it may be fated to remain inconclusive, at least for the time being. If that's the case, it should get the benefit of the doubt.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 19 Jan 2016 23:08

FWMS reply, when I listed the above countries and distributors, and if there are any countries missing from the list, for example Asia:

your infos are correct except Germany. Transit used to be responsible for our licensing business, that’s why you’ll find their name on German releases. But the label releasing the movie is called Universum Film.

To my knowledge the film has not been licensed to an Asian distributor for a DVD release.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) on DVD and Blu-ray

Postby Brent_Reid » 20 Jan 2016 03:53

Great: article updated!
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